Portishead Describe Making New Album As "Hellish"

If you are wondering why it has taken Portishead 11 years to release record number three, it might be because making number two was "hellish. Speaking to BBC News, Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley described the events surrounding the bands 1997 album and apparently things were far from pleasant in the bands camp.

"After [1994 debut] Dummy we had to make the second record, Portishead, and that was a hellish time, it really was, Utley said. "There was pressure internally  there was a sense of Got to get it done, got to get it done.

Utley went on to explain how he and band-mate Geoff Barrow both split from their respective wives during the making of the second record and how the pressure of trying not the repeat the sound of their earlier work weighed down heavily on the band.

"Those years were quite dark from then on, Utley explained. "There were times when I thought, This is not going to happen. There were times when I thought, Were not going to be able to do it, or Im going to die trying.